Blooming Marvellous.......

This is my new collection! 

The Plant Hunter Collection: Inspired by visits to some of the most beautiful botanical gardens around England, this refreshing collection presents the exotic and the more ordinary, from the eye catching pin-cushion protea to the majestic beech.

From top left & clockwise: Jade Vine, Stellata, Beech Nut and Passiflora

Over the last few weeks I've been busy drawing and creating these gorgeous patterns and I've loved every minute. For a while I've been thinking I should create a new collection to work with, visiting Kew Gardens at the end of April and coming home feeling so inspired gave me a great theme to work with and lots of visual research too!

From top left & clockwise: Pin-cushion, Carduus, Dandelion-Taraxacum, and Iridaceae

The collection consists of 8 designs and I'm hoping to add others to it as I've still got lots of inspirational images to explore and work with. I've sent off for some sample prints and once I've checked the colours I will get some lengths printed and make gorgeous things. They will also be available to buy through my Spoonflower shop, which I've yet to stock so watch this space........

I hope you like them and thank you for stopping by :-)

You can see some images of work in progress for this collection and other Ballistic Owl projects on: facebook page  or on Twitter and also on Instagram

Woop Studios a creative collective.....

I was out and about the other day buying milk and bread when I happened to pass the magazine rack and the lovely bright cover of the Homemaker magazine caught my eye. I'm always on the look out for inspiration and things to make and ideas for trends. I'd not noticed this particular magazine before, but after a flick through I just had to buy it! 

It has lots of lovely ideas for things to make from blinds to cakes as well as ways to perk up tired furniture and liven up your home. It has a mix of vintage inspired design as well as the more contemporary. Pieces on current trends in the stores for fabric and home wares and interviews with creative companies and people.

This issue (7) also has a fabulous supplement full of the gorgeous work of Woop Studios. The founder members Miraphora Mina, Eduardo Lima, Harriet Logan, and Mark Faulkner all share a love of words and graphic design. This combination is used to create beautiful and  fun prints with collective nouns in a variety of interesting fonts. Below are 3 of my favourites, two of which are in the supplement and one I spotted and fell in love with on their website.

  W - a Whiteness of Swans

This lovely and serene print of swans gliding across the pool is great with it's limited colour palette and very much reminds me of images from the Art Deco period.

 F - a Charm of Finches

Sitting in my garden over the last few weeks has been lovely, because if you sit quietly enough you not only hear the blue tits and the black birds, but you may even get to see one hopping around in the branches looking for the fat balls and seeds we put out. This poster just reminds me of my little birds flitting around and singing their little hearts out and certainly is charming.

O - a Parliament of Owls

I just had to include this one, being a ballistic owl. I've been calling my little collection of owls an Owlery, but perhaps the correct term should be parliament as in this poster. I love all the mysterious eyes shining through the darkness.

Woop produce these great prints as posters and also on greetings cards and home wares. I think I've just sorted my father in laws birthday present out for this year, as well as finding a great studio to be inspired by!

Thank you for stopping by and hope you find some inspiration too :-)

Having fun with textiles

I have really enjoyed being able to print and embroider over the last few weeks and have loved planning my little pictures for the market stalls and Folksy shop. It's great to have lots of ideas buzzing around my head and then experimenting with them. 

Yesterday with the buzz of having sold two of my bird prints as well as a few other things on the stall on Sunday, I got to thinking of other techniques I could bring into my textile pictures. Below is an idea I tried out using reverse applique and my ballistic owl lino print. I think he looks rather smart and will soon be in a frame ready for my next market! 

Ballistic Owl in a suit! Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

Along side making new and exciting things with textiles, I'm also busy drawing so I can expand my pattern portfolio and also have some designs to print and later add to things like my lampshades and pictures. This drawing forms part of a sheet inspired by the fantastic flowers I saw at Kew Gardens in April. Once it's finished I will experiment with pattern repeats!

Sketch book drawing. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

I'm loving Instagram at the moment and find it's a great way to show work in progress and quickly put them up on my Facebook page or on Twitter. I also use it when I'm out and about, and take a snap when I spot something that could inspire a design. I have also taken quite a few of my cats, so you will have to excuse me on that, but they are very cute!

Instagram picture of work in progress. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

As some of my lovely prints have flown the nest, I have added these two gorgeous ones to my Folksy shop and they will also be at my next market stall at Tynemouth which I'm planning on doing on the first Sunday in July. The Ballistic Owl is a lino print with hand embellishment and framed in a smart white box frame and is £24 plus p&p. Humming bird with tropical flowers is also available in the shop and will be on the stall if he doesn't get snapped up from the shop first! 

 The Ballistic Owl. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

If you love these, but would like something a little more personalised for yourself or as a gift then please get in touch either via my Folksy shop or my Facebook page, links above or they can be found down the side of the blog.

Humming bird with tropical flowers. Copyright Ballistic Owl 2013

Thank you for popping by and I'll look forward to seeing you again soon :-)